From the middle of Billings, 9 of the first 10 places are window companies. From the edges, as few as 1.

Who does a homeowner find?

Pick where the homeowner is. Each row is one search, and each square one of the first 10 places, in order. Blue squares are window and door companies.

• Window and door company
• Builder or roofer
• Car glass, tint or auto shop
• Window cleaning or blinds
• Other trade

Where this comes from: Google Maps on September 30, 42 searches in all. The rows show the middle of the metro, two points out in each direction, one point toward Laurel, and the search for window replacement company in Billings, MT. Results move with the time of day and the phone, so treat a single place as a snapshot. Ads are not counted.

What do they ask before they call?

Google suggests what people type next. Around window replacement it suggested 887 different phrases, and the biggest group, 317 of them, is about cost.

Some of the questions, and how many local sites answer them in their own words

• window replacement cost calculatornone of 106 sites
• how much to remove and replace windows7 of 106 sites
• can i get my windows replaced for free9 of 106 sites
• does insurance cover window replacement21 of 106 sites
• same day window replacement house14 of 106 sites
• top rated window replacement companies in my area6 of 106 sites
• window replacement programs for seniorsnone of 106 sites
• least expensive window replacementnone of 106 sites

Where this comes from: Google's suggestions on September 30, 156 prompts, 887 phrases. They show what people type, not how many times. The site count is a word match on the 106 local sites that opened, all kinds of business, so a site that mentions insurance anywhere counts as answering the insurance question.

What happens when they tap Website?

All 94 listings in the list at the end, by what the Website button on Google Maps does. 25 of them lead nowhere useful.

• Opens their site 69
• No website 16
• Opens a Facebook page 3
• Opens with a warning 3
• Opens someone else's page 2
• Does not open 1

Among the 29 window and door companies alone: 21 open their site, 5 have no website, 1 open a Facebook page and 2 open with a warning.

What a homeowner would not expect

• Construction listing, one review

  The Website button opens a lottery page in Indonesian. The listing's number is the cell number printed on a roofer's site in this report.

  Opens someone else's page
• Siding listing, 2.8 stars

  The Website button opens abcmetalrnart.com: a roofing page with no company name, an 844 number and a form that sends to another site.

  Opens someone else's page
• Window company

  The Our Recent Projects slider shows foamy ocean waves, a river through a forest and pink sand dunes. They are the starter photos of the site builder.

  Opens, but
• Car glass shop, #12 for the whole metro search

  The email address on the home page reads quote@ and its own domain. The link behind it writes to info@ignition.com, the template's sample address.

  Opens, but
• Car glass shop, seen in all 42 searches

  The site lives on a free builder address. Its tab title says Computerized Car Care and the footer, 2035 by MANI Computerized Auto Service.

  Opens, but
• Remodeling company, 346 reviews

  The Website button opens a site written for Minnesota, with Minnesota, Texas and Kentucky numbers.

  Opens, but
• Three listings, four reviews between them

  No website on any of them. Filed as a window installer, a remodeler and a window cleaner, with numbers that share their first six digits. Between them they came up in 31 of the 42 searches, 6 times in the top three.

  No website
• Tint shop, 146 reviews, seen in 36 searches

  The website address on the listing no longer exists.

  Does not open

Where this comes from: every website field followed on September 30, the window companies' sites opened again on October 4 and 5. Outcomes are what a phone shows a stranger. Nothing behind a login was read.

What the sites say, and what almost none says

Phrases found on the 104 local sites of this run. The left column is what a homeowner reads everywhere. The right one is what they look for and rarely find.

Where this comes from: a script read the home page and up to six inner pages of each of the 104 sites on September 30 and looked for these phrases. The three price calculators belong to roofers.

Every company in this report

94 listings a homeowner meets in these searches: 29 window and door companies, 40 builders and roofers, 18 car glass shops, 7 cleaners and blinds stores. A number, not a name.

Where this comes from: Google listings read on September 30, sites read on September 30 and again on October 4 and 5 for the window companies. A dash means it was not read.

How I checked

Correct or remove a row

Write to igor@sogrox.com with your website. A row is corrected or taken off within two business days, no questions asked, and stays off future reports.